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(WUSA/AP) -- The Associated Press reports that Hostess, the company that makes Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, is going out of business and 18,500 workers will be laid off in the process.

Earlier this week, Irving, Texas-based Hostess Brands Inc. warned workers who were striking that it would file a motion to cease operations if they didn't come back to work by Thursday at 5 p.m. AP reported that approximately 18,000 jobs would be lost if that happened.

Hostess had reached a contract agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union, but its second biggest union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, went on strike last week. That union was protesting cuts to wages and benefits under a new contract offer.

Friday morning, the company said the nationwide strike hampered its ability to make and deliver products to some locations.

Hostess filed for Chapter 11 protection in January. It was the company's second time in bankruptcy court in less than 10 years, according to AP.